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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

‘On Stranger Tides’ replaces characters, loses viewer approval

The latest installment of Disney’s swashbuckling franchise, “Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides” set sail in theaters May 20. While the blockbuster raked in $400 million internationally within its first week, “On Stranger Tides” was a confounding diversion with even more unsolved plot holes than the previous “Pirates” trilogy.

Admittedly, it has been a pirate’s life for me since “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was released in 2003. It was love at first sight for my thirteen-year-old self when I laid eyes on the shy Will Turner, played by the tragically beautiful, actor Orlando Bloom.

I remember the shock I felt at the end of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” when Captain Jack Sparrow seemed to finally meet his match at the hand of Davy Jones’ fearsome sea monster, the Kraken. And alas, I confess I went to see “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” three times in theaters and cried thrice when Will’s heart was cut out of his body and locked away into Dead Man’s Chest forever.

“On Stranger Tides” reunites Johnny Depp’s boisterous Captain Jack Sparrow and first mate Gibbs (played by Kevin McNally) with Geoffrey Rush’s fantastic Hector Barbossa.

Absent from the film are Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, who chose against reprising their roles as William Turner and Elizabeth Swan, thus wiping the slate clean for a new storyline and character ensemble. Enter Ian McShane as the bloodthirsty, stoic pirate Blackbeard, accompanied by his alleged daughter Angelica Malon, played by a pregnant Penelope Cruz.

As is common with “Pirates,” the plot is confusing, random and gimmicky at best. We find our beloved Captain Jack on a quest for Ponce de Leon’s famed Fountain of Youth. Captain Barbossa has enlisted in the British navy with ulterior motives other than serving the King of England. We stumble upon Angelica, a questionable woman from Sparrow’s past who forces Jack onto Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. Blackbeard and Angelica are also after eternal life, though we are never told why. Cannibalistic mermaids, zombie pirates and ghost ships controlled by a ridiculously large sword ensue.

Predictably, the pirates make it to the Fountain with a live mermaid, Serena (played by newcomer Astrid Berges-Frisbey), whose tear they need to mix with the Fountain’s waters. As Jack, Angelica and Blackbeard prepare to drink the ‘agua de vida,’ the Spanish army storms in and destroys the utopian oasis. Swords clash, bullets fly and Blackbeard dies and literally disintegrates at the hands of his own greed. Oh, and the Black Pearl is encased in a bottle. Makes perfect sense, right?

Not so much. True, the “Pirates” franchise is no stranger to bewilderment. Calypso grew into a giant heathen god and exploded into thousands of crabs at the end of the third movie while Davey Jones, arguably one of the best developed characters in the series, dies an anticlimactic death as he falls off the edge of the Flying Dutchman. Still, “On Stranger Tides” lacked fluidity and strong character relationships, and relied heavily on Jack’s drunken debauchery to save the movie.

Depp and Cruz exemplified mild chemistry, though Director Rob Marshall felt the need for another awkward romantic subplot between mermaid Serena and a bible thumping sailor named Philip, played by British actor Sam Claflin. These two love stories were ludicrous in comparison to Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan’s undying devotion to each other. Although Ian McShane’s Blackbeard was introduced as the new villain and he gave it a good try, I missed the lovesick, conflicted Davey Jones and his spitting Scottish accent.

Depp was still entertaining and enjoyable as Sparrow, and it was a treat to see Keith Richards reprise his role as Jack’s father Captain Teague. One of the greater lines of the film came from Teague discussing the Fountain of Youth: Does this face look like it’s seen the Fountain?

However, the sword fights and killer mermaids could not distract from what was truly missing in the movie: the older characters and a solid plot.

It is impossible for Davey, Will or Elizabeth to come back into Jack Sparrow’s world. Still, that does not change the fact that “Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides” is void of any heart-wrenching love or vengeful action, which is exactly what made the “Pirates” trilogy so enticing in the first place. The fourth movie was disappointing, bland and boring. I said this as I left the theater and I will say it again, it just wasn’t the same as the first three films.

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